MEET THE EXPERTS : 32 COUNTIES : GLIN CASTLE SPOTLIGHT

MEET THE EXPERTS IRELAND'S LEADING TRAVEL EXPERTS SPEAK ON THE TRUE STATUS OF IRISH TOURISM TODAY.

INTERVIEWS BY BRAD BALFOUR AND PADDY McCARTHY

The recent outbreak of faot-and-mouth disease had potentially devastating impact on the Irish tourist industry. However, Food and Rural Development Minister Mr. Joe Walsh, (TD) stated that many travel sites will re-open and it has been confirmed that all outdoor activities including walking, angling, cycling and equestrian events_can resume. So is this the perfect time for you to travel to Ireland?

The fares are cheaper and lines are shorter. No matter where you go you are never far from the water and fishing spots and boating facilities. Stop off at any place that strikes your fancy or just hang out in neighborhood pube where the craic (that is Gaelic for fun) is unparallelled.

James McGuigan
Irish Tourist Board

BACKGROUND
Originally from Monaghan, James McGuigan moved to Dublin where he served with the Irish Tourist Board in various capacities for over 26 years. Previously a hotel manager for what is now the Jury Doyle Hotel Group, he credits his years in management as valuable preparation for working with the Board. Now as the head of the ITB's New York office, McGuigan is enjoying the unique experiences and challenges that this position brings.

IRELAND AND THE WORLD
There is tremendous amount of good will that exists between the U.S. and the Irish peoples.

The Irish product has immensely improved over the last ten years. There has been significant investment: over &3 billion has been invested in tourism and infrastructure. So Ireland can compare favorably with the best worldwide specifically in areas such as golf, cruising, horseback riding and hotel accommodations. Ireland is renowned for its high standard in food service and boasts an impressive array of restaurants nationwide. At the Irish Tourist Board we focus on areas where we attract the majority of our business such as the North American region.

MEDIA IMAGE
To the American market, because of their proximity, Ireland and the British mainland are considered as one geographical region.

So when the pictures and TV news showed carcasses being buried or burned, American people presumed that what was developing in the UK was also occurring in Ireland. That general assumption alone had a major impact on Irish tourism. We addressed that misinterpretation and it's effect on tourism by working closely with the industry. We had to clarify the confusion initially with the travel agents and ultimately with the consumer. We had a very extensive PR campaign and we've been very effective in our recovery.

RECOVERY AND WELCOME
Given the all-clear by the Minister of Tourism, the Irish Tourist Board has undertaken a major marketing campaign costing over $3 million. The campaign emcompasses a range of trade activities, PR and advertising. We've also been working with the tourist sector at home, returning business into Ireland. Politicians Senator Kennedy and Bill Clinton, both recent visitors to Ireland, are reassuring people that Ireland is very much back in business and a wonderful place to visit.

We successfully recruited Irish/American actor Martin Sheen, a great ambassador for Irish tourism, to assist us in our drive to invite more people to Ireland. Sheen has an enormous affinity with Ireland and is delighted to be part of our campaign to create an awareness and encourage people there's no better time to visit. We can ensure our American visitors that there is absolutely no threat--Ireland is open for business and offers a warm welcome to it's shores.

Brian Stack
CIE Tours International

BACKGROUND
Already with a strong interest in the travel sector, Brian Stack initially joined Aer Lingus after graduation before transferring to England to study marketing at Sheffieid University. By 1974 Stack had returned home, specializing in tourism conventions and business incentives for the Irish Tourist Board. Three years later he transferred to the US to take up the post of East:Coast manager. and began the-task of marketing Ireland in the US. 1984 saw him serving'in a voluntary capacity as President of the worldwide organization, the Society of Incentive Travel Executives. Through that role Stack became involved with Ocean Key House's 4,000 acre Florida resort where he remained until 1989. With invaluable knowledge of the travel sector, Stack joine CIE Tours International where he now holds the title of CEO.

CIE Tours
We have a wonderful team of people, from an original 10 in 1990 to over 60 staff members today all involved in selling tours to Ireland. Being Irish has never been more fashionable, through events like Riverdance, pop groups like U2, and movies, we have asserted a very positive image internationally. The silver lining to Northern Ireland's former negative cloud is the positive reports about the peace process, which all contributes to a confident outlook. CIE has a wide range of tours (1400 itineraries) to Ireland, more than any other tour company. From top-of-the-line luxurious castle tours to four star tours - we offer the entire range and a lot more besides.

In the next few years, there will be more people over the age of 60 in America than any other time in history, with both the time and disposable income to fulfill a lifetime wish to visit their ancestral homeland. Over half a million 'pure' tourists go to Ireland every year, in addition the traditional average of one million visitors who travel home to see friends and family. With over 40 million Irish Americans living in the US, we have a huge long term tourist potential to develop and sustain. People are fascinated by their Irish heritage, we're only scratching the surface of that ancestral interest. Every year we devise and create-new itineraries, new programs. We now do tours within the United States, in conjunction with another tour company. We have tours to California, the Grand Canyon and Canada. But the-basic-brand we have created is associated with Ireland---and now Britain. Every travel agent in America will suggest that CIE is the only way to go if you intend to travel to Ireland.

THE 32 COUNTIES

HERE THEY ARE, BROKEN DOWN INTO THEIR FOUR MAIN SECTIONS WITH SOME HIGHLIGHTS. CHECK OUT ALL THE PLACES TO STAY-- BE IT A BEAUTIFUL CASTLE OR LOCAL B+B. IRELAND'S GREATEST ASSET IS IT'S FRIENDLY, HELPFUL NATIVES. ASK FOLKS ABOUT GOOD PLACES TO VISIT AND THEY WILL BE ONLY TO HAPPY TO HELP YOU OUT.

BY MAIREAD Ni TUATAIG

Munster

CLARE: The Burren is a natural limestone plateau with unique plants, caves and dolmens. Bunratty Castle hosts sumptuous medieval banquets; next door is the Folk Park with its ancient traditions.Take a Guinness break at Durty Nellies. Check out the ocean from 660+ ft. high Cliffs of Moher. August's Feakle Music Festival features fiddle champion Martin Hayes.

LIMERICK: Maureen O'Hara opened the Foynes Flying Boat Museum years ago in honor of her late husband, Air Force Colonel Charles Blair, the last scheduled captain to fly from Foynes and the first to fly into Shannon. It also hosts the Irish Coffee Championships during the three-day festival in Foynes on the july 20th weekend.

KERRY: Visit the Lakes of Killarney, Ring of Keerr, the Dingle Peninsula, Muckross Estate and Killarney National Park.The Gap of Dungloe-horse-drawn cars tour the park. Dunquinf Blasket Islands Heritage Center is known from David Lean's Ryan's Daughter.

CORK: The largest county hosts an annual film and jau festival. Kiss the Blarney Stone on top of Blarney Castle and get the gift of gab. Cork City is home to the largest port in Ireland, offering spectacular ocean views and great seafood.

WATERFORD: Home of the Waterford Crystal factory. The 95-ft-high round tower and small 8th century St. Declan's Church looks out over the sea.The monastery was founded before the arrival of St Patrick making it Ireland's oldest Christian parish. Lismore Castle Gardens, built by Prince John in 1185, was owned by SirWalter Raleigh.

TIPPERARY: The Glen of Aherlow river runs between the Galtee Mountains and Slieve na Muck. The 5th Cent. Rock of Cashel religious ruin soars to 92 ft. Holy Cross Abbey even houses a piece of Jesus' Cross. Boats to the Holy Island Monastic Center can be taken from Mount Shannon in Glare to Lough Derg.

Leinster

LONGFORD: The main attraction in Longford county is angling, and the Corlea Interpretative Centre on the Bog of Alien features an archaeological dig discovered in 1985. Granard hosts an Irish harp playing festival in August Carriglas Manor is the museum in Saint Mel's Cathedral.

WESTMEATH: Mullingar and Athlone are popular for fishing and boating. Home to the legend of the Children of Lir (turned into swans by a jealous stepmother) is the beautiful Lough Derravaragh. Visit Lockes Whiskey Distillery in Kilbeggan. Mullingar Military Museum displays weapons and uniforms. Watch craftsmen make pewter ware at Mullingar Pewter Centre.

OFFALY: An Dun Transport and Heritage Museum displays vintage car and agricultural vehicles.Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey liqueur made this area famous, but the factory is now in Clonmel. Birr Castle is opened all year round and includes attractions such as The GreatTelescope,The Historic Science Center and one of the oldest suspension bridges in Ireland.

LAOIS: In Laois county,you will discover Saint Fintan's Tree, an ancient sycamore tree near Ballyfin House believed to have healing powers.You will also find delight in Stadbally Steam Museum-vintage steam engines, fire engines and steamrollers.The Rock of Dunamase limestone outcrop towers over the surrounding flat countryside on the Stradbally Road.

KILKENNY: The County Hall stands on the site of former Kilkenny College where jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels) studied. The Kilkenny festival is in june and KilkennyArtsWeek in August Don't miss the Nicholas Messe and jackson Steneware Pottery houses, two of the best known in Ireland, Kilkenny is renowned for its creative arts and crafts culture.The Dunmore Caves feature the tallest free-standing cross in Europe. Smithwicks Brewery offers tastings. Open june to August.

WEXFORD: The National History Park has reconstructed ancient settlements and monuments in the Wexford region. Curracloe Nature Reserve, Wexford Wildfowl Reserve and the Saltee Islands are great for bird watching. Stop by atThe john FKennedy Park and Arboretum, and sample the delights of the july seafood festival. October's Wexford Opera Festival is a global success for the county, and Enniscorthy Castle (home of Edmund Spencer, creator of The Faerie Queene) is also to be found in Wexford.

CARLOW: Ireland's second smallest county is home to Browne's Hill Dolmen, a megalithic tomb with the largest dolmen capstone in Europe. Altamont Gardens lake, arboretum and bog garden near Tullow is open Sundays and Bank Holidays from April to October. Mount Leinster is the highest peak of the Blackstair Mountains in the south of Carlow at 2394 feet high. Hang gliding from the mountain is a popular activity.

WICKLOW: The beautiful Wicklow Mountains are a popular location for artists and tourists alike. Arklow is a busy small port with a maritime museum. The village in the scenicVale ofAvoca is the setting for the popular BBC series Ballykissangel. In addition, Wicklow hosts the start of the Round Ireland Yacht Race.

KILDARE: Ireland's premier horse-racing county has the largest course in the nation, the prestigious 6,000acre Curragh. The five big classics are The Derby in june,The Oaks in july, St. Leger in September, and the 1,000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas, both in May. Kildare is also the domain of the Irish National Stud and japanese Gardens. Straffan Butterfly Farm open May to August. The Straffan Steam Museum open Easter to September.

DUBLIN: The capital of the Republic that includes Dun Laoghaire, a seaside resort with a ferry port to Holyhead in Wales. Howth Cattle gardens are open to the public in summer.The james joyce Museum is based in the Martello Tower on the seafront at Sandycove near Dun Laoghaire,featured in Ulysses, his epic novel set in Dublin.

MEATH: The Hill ofTara was the seat of the High Kings of Ireland when St. Patrick began his mission to convert the Irish to Christianity. Tara Visitor's Center runs tours to the site burial mounds on the hill dating from 2500AD. Slane Castle, although destroyed by fire in 1991, its entrepreneurial Lord MountCharles has allowed promoters to run outdoor concerts, with acts such as Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and U2.

LOUTH: The "wee" county, Louth is the smallest of Ireland's 32 counties. Dundalk is home to the Great Northern Harp Brewery, and tours are available by arrangementTermonfeckin- IOth century high cross. Carlingford has a very popular oyster festival and fair in August. Cooley Peninsula is setting for the Celtic legend, The Cattle Raid of Cooley (or the Tain Bo Cuailnge) when Queen Maeve marched her armies to Ulster to steal the famous brown bull.

Connaught

MAYO: Home of Knock Shrine. In 1879, Mary, St. joseph and St. john the Evangelist appeared here. Catholic Marian Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady Queen of Ireland is visited by millions annually. On Garland Sunday, the last Sunday in July, pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick, a 2500+ ft. mountain to pray at St. Patrick's Bed on the summit. Ballina, the largest town, holds a two-week salmon festival in july. Gong Heritage Center--the setting for the 1951's The Quiet Man (Maureen O'Hara and john Wayne). This june, 200 I,marks its 50th anniversary.

CALWAY: Ireland's second largest county renowned for its culture, festivals and nightlife.The Aran Islands in Galway Bay are home to Irish knit sweaters of unbleached sheep's wool with fancy cabling patterns. Ballinasloe Horse Fair is in October. Clarinbridge Oyster Festival is held the second week of September. Thoor Ballylee (poet William Butler Yeats' home); Leenane (An Lionan) Sheep and Wool Museum and the Galway Races are held the last week in july. There's a Jazz Festival in February and a Literature Festival at Easter.

ROSCOMMON: Tulsk has many ancient monuments, including ring forts. Clonalis House is a stately home of the leading Connaught O'Conor family which has a harp made by the famous blind harpistTurlough O'Carolan. Harp Festival in August at Keadue. Open june to September. Roscommon is also the home of the Drumanone Dolmen-- a Megalithic dolmen tomb near Boyle.

LEITRIM: The famous Shannon-Eme Waterway (239 miles) can be cruised from Carrick-on-Shannon to Lough Erne in Fermanagh. Don't miss a visit to Leitrimf Genealogical Centre and folk museum or to the Sliathan larainn Visitor's Centre. Ride from Moorelands Equestrian Centre.There is also a lively music festival held each july. Drumsna is an archaeological site with one of the oldest Stone Age walls in the world. PoetW.B.Yeaa immortalised the islands of Inisfree and Doonery rock in Lough Gill.

SLIGO: County Sligo hosts some of the best prehistoric monuments in the country. The County Museum pays tribute toYeats, whose final resting place is in this west county. The exhibit includes his residence at Lissadell,where he stayed with the Easter Rising rebel Constance Markievicz, who made Irish political history as the first female member of Parliament and Labour Minister the first Dail. Tobercurry hosts summer fairs. in july and AugustThe Glencar Lough near Benbulben Mountain was described byWBYeats in his poems, and is a treasure to behold.

Ulster

DONEGAL: Perched on the Atlantic coast, Doneffdl is the largest remaining Gaeltacht area, areas where Irish is the predominant language.The terrain is rugged and mountainous. Slieve League towers as the highest sea cliff in Europe. Horn Head's Cliffs has hundreds of gulls, puffins and gulliemots nesting on 180 metres of sheer rock. Pilgrimages are made to the religious center on Station Island, Lough Derg (the Red Lough) for penance and reflection.

FERMANAGH: A natural area for water sports, Fermanagh is home to a series of splendid lakes. Beleek Pottery has a 20-minute tour and is famous for beautiful yellowish ceramics--the most popular are latticework baskets, clocks, and vases. Beleek created this original china in1857, glazed to look like Ancient Creek Parian marble.

CAVAN: The 186-mile Shannon River originates in the rugged Cuilcagh Mountains. The recent development linking the Shannon with tough Erne attracts visitors because of fishing, cruising trips. Cavan Crystal Factory is Ireland's second oldest crystal factory. You will also find in Cavan the Drumlane Monastic site,the remains ofa church and round tower dating from the I Ith century. Cavan is also home to the Pighouse Folk Museur~-a private history museum.

MONAGHAN: Drumlins (Small hills piled with rocks) were left by glaciers during the Ice Age. Despite its rugged terrain, farming remains the core industry in this, poet Patrick Kavanagh's homeland. Monaghan is proud to host its own September Jauz Festival. Carrickmacross Lace Gallery, renowned for beautiful handmade lace is the pride of the county. The Creystone Equestrian Center caters for those who wish to indulge in hone riding, with trails in Dun a Ri Forest Park, where you can make a special wish at the famous wishing well.

ARMAGH: No visit to the Ecclesiastical capital of Ireland is complete without visiting St. Patrickf Cathedral in Armagh city, seat of the cardinal of All Ireland.Armagh County boasts the Gosford Forest and Peatlands Parks, and the County's museum is the oldest in Ireland. Navan fort, an archaeological monument is a fascinating site to visit.

DOWN: It was here that St. Patrick came ashore to drive the snakes out of Ireland, and Downpatrick is the resting place of ireland's patron saintThe county boasts the Mountains of Mourne, an area of outstanding natural beauty captured in song by Percy French. Butterfly House Gardens and Delamont Country Park overlook Strangford Lough. The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum is one of the finest museums in Ulster, set in beautiful grounds at Cultra. The Bronte Interpretative Center features Patrick Bronte's birthplace (father of Charlotte, Emily and Anne).

ANTRIM: Home to the Giant's Causeway, a strange eruption of columns rising out of the sea (40,000 + basalt hexagonal columns) that look like giant stepping stones. Often described as the eighth wonder of the world, the unique formation caused by volcanic eruptions over 60 million years ago.Legend states that these were steps built to walk to Scotland by the Ulster warrior-giant Finn McCool. Before you get to there, visit Bushmills Distillery,the world's oldest legal distillery (built in 1608).

TYRONE: This traditional farming county is also renowned for its outstanding record in Gaelic sports. The Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh highlights the mass emigration in the 1800s.The family fortune of Thomas Mellon, who left the county in 1813 and became a millionaire American banker, helped build the park. In Tyrone you will be able to visit the Ancestral homes of two American Presidents General Grant Ulysses and Woodrow Wilson. Last but by no means least is the Tyrone Crystal factory, that creates and exports worldwide, beautiful handcrafted crystal.

DERRY (Londonderry):ln 1932Amelia Earhart landed at Derry, the first Atlantic solo flight by a woman. Derry's Magilligan Strand is ireland's longest beach. Derry also features Musenden Temple, a circular building that is an exact copy of the Roman temple of Vesta at Limavady. The historic walled city provided the inspiration for Derry's famous air, Danny BoyThe city has been transformed in recent years, and boasts a vibrant social and cultural scene, with a young student population attending the University of Ulster's Magee College in the city.

GLIN CASTLE SPOTLIGHT

COUNTY LIMERICK'S TREASURE TROVE OF IRISH ARTS AND CRAFTS ON THE BANKS OF THE SHANNON. THE 29TH KNIGHT OF GLIN HAS STOCKED HIS FAMILY MANSE WITH GEORGIAN ANTIQUES AND MODERN CREATURE COMFORTS. AND YOU CAN TEE OFF NEARBY AT ONE OF THE WORLD'S BEST GOLF COURSES. STORY AND PHOTOS BY LORRAINE DUSKY

GLIN CASTLE

With magnificent rooms and splendid grounds, this imposing 18th century home large enough to call itself a castle, is tended lovingly by the 29th Knight of Glin and his wife, Madame Olda FitzGerald. The Knight came in and introduced himself, and joined me on the pink velvet couch. More country squire than aristocratic knight, Desmond Fitzgerald, turns out to be a noted connoisseur and writer on Irish art and artifacts, whose obsession with collecting has turned the family manse he inherited when he was 12 into a museum of Irish Georgian arts and crafts. In fact, he is chairman of the Irish Georgian Society, a charity devoted to conserving Ireland's architectural heritage, as well as acting as a Dublin agent for the famous Christie's auction house. He spends weekdays in the city working with a Trinity College professor, Anne Crookshank. Together they are completing a seven-year project, an updated version of The Painters of Ireland, a book that they first published in 1978. Arriving earlier that misty afternoon, I'd had tea and scenes on fine china in my room, while I checked out my surroundings. It housed a veritable collection of 18th century prints, including a Bartolozzi just inside the door. If the work of the best print-maker of the times were the level of decoration in my room, I reckoned the public rooms would make aficionados of antiques swoon.

Because not all of the original furnishings were sold when fortunes dwindled, combined with the Knight's collecting obsession, Glin is famous for its furniture, furnishings and paintings. There's a fine mahogany built-in bookcase with a hidden door, surmounted with a bust of Milton. There's a mid-18th century baroque mahogany side table of the "grunt-and-groan style," jokes the Knight. In the sitting room, a small intricately inlaid lamp table and an exceptional reproduction of it. In fact, the reproductions are made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Kindel who has 22 pieces in the Irish Georgian Collection. On the walls, on every flat surface, there is Irish silver, gilt girandoles, crystal, porcelain and pottery of the highest caliber, something to look at every moment you feel like looking.

Paintings of formidable knights of previous centuries look down on you while you roam the public rooms. But one need not be intimidated--there's the 25th Knight, "the lecherous, treacherous Knight of Glin"-according to an 1830 broadside--who reportedly kept a mistress in each of the three follies he had built on the grounds. A folly is a small structure in the distance that catches your eye as you scan the demesne. That he stashed a lady in each folly is probably apocryphal since the eye-catchers are, well, more the size of children's playhouses. Anyway, who can be stuffy with that kind of heritage?

The land and title go back to the 12th century when The Knight's Celtic forbearers came from Cornwall as mercenaries. Successful in battle, King Dermot Mac Murrough knighted his warrior chieftains, granting the Knight's ancestor land in West Limerick in 1197. Remnants of an old castle dating from that era can be found at the outskirts of the small and tidy village of Glin, a mere half mile away. In the late 1600s, the Fitzgeralds moved to the present location where they built a long thatched-roof house, now incorporated into the current building and providing the family's apartments. Most of the current structure dates from the 1780s. The funds appeared to have run out before work on the ground floor was completed, because the elaborate decorative plasterwork on the ceilings elsewhere is notably absent in the dining room.

It has been that way ever since, with bits and pieces added before the lack of finances called the restoration to a halt. Some of the furnishings were sold of course, and now and then The Knight finds them up at auction and retrieves his ancestral accouterments. Now everything is geared to luxury amid the antiques--visitors will find modern plumbing and electric blankets to warm the beds in the evening; Egyptian cotton sheets and comfortably firm mattresses are surrounded by bedside lamps with enough wattage for reading. There are even seemingly incongruous television sets in each room for American visitors with their thirst for news and sports. Work on the third floor was actually only completed in 1999, and now several charming but smaller guest rooms are located there. "There should be people here," The Knight says. "It would be a shame for this place just to sit here and not be savoured."

The Knight and Madame have three daughters. What happens after The Knight dies is anyone's guess, with no male heir to assume title. The title--whose inheritance is a matter of custom rather than law--will end when the Knight, who turns 64 this year, dies. "All things come to an end," he says matterof-factly. "If it can't be perpetuated, it can't be perpetuated." What will happen when he dies? "Maybe the state will take it over," he shrugs. "Maybe Catherine (at 29, the oldest daughter) will run it. Maybe they will find a way to share it."

Glin Castle is posh, the vista restful, the dining superb, the antiques first rate, the atmosphere affable and gracious. It is a place for roaming, for inspecting the flora, for letting the hustle of life back home melt away. Most Americans seem to come only for a night and then move on. Pity.